Maybe Hope Is All It Takes
by ezriahardinghale
Summary: Aria has a baby on the way, but when she discovers Ezra's secret the perfect life she has planned for them comes crashing down. Will the child they share be able to help them work out their differences? Or will the broken pieces remain where they lay? Maybe Hope is all it takes.
1. Chapter 1

Maybe Hope is all it takes

Chapter One

 _18 July 2011_

 _Rosewood, Pennsylvania_

" _You always think your first love is going to be your only love."_

"One. Two. Three. Puuuush!" the young, blonde midwife encouragingly called out to Aria.

Aria let out a shaky, painful breath before giving one last push and sighing in relief when loud, high-pitched cries began to fill the small delivery room.

Tears of joy began to flow freely from Aria's bold, hazel eyes. A huge grin overtook her face as she watched her husband of just over a year and a half cut the umbilical cord of their newborn baby girl.

She glanced back up at Ezra as he kissed their beautiful baby girl, that they had made entirely out of love – or so she had thought – on her tiny forehead. Her cries had now subsided and the nurses had long since left the delivery room, giving Aria and Ezra the privacy they very much needed. Their daughter was now staring intently at her father, her bright blue eyes being identical to his.

Still smiling, Ezra handed the minute newborn, now all wrapped up in a fluffy pink blanket to Aria.

Ezra watched in complete adoration as his wife and young daughter interacted with one another. Complete and utter sadness filled his heart.

"Hope." Aria spoke softly, just loud enough for Ezra to understand what she had just said.

"What?" Ezra asked, confusion etched all over his face.

"Hope. I want to name her Hope. We decided on her first name together and you said I could choose her middle name, remember? Bailey Hope Montgomery." Aria stated matter-of-factly, staring absentmindedly at the plain wall in front of her.

She watched as Ezra grimaced at the name "Montgomery", but he decided to pretend he never heard.

"Hope." Ezra repeated quietly to himself, smiling sadly as he did so.

"I love it," he continued, "but why Hope?"

"Why? Because she gave me hope. I stopped trusting you a long time ago, Ezra, you know that. She gave me hope that during these nine months I wouldn't leave you. If it wasn't for her, there would be no us. I would have left you a long time ago. The only reason I am still with you is because of Bailey. She needs a father figure in her life and I wasn't going to be the one to take that away from her. One shitty parent is enough." Aria spat out a little more harshly than she intended.

"Aria," Ezra whispered with tears in his bold blue eyes. "I told you. I'm sorry. For Natalie, for hurting you, for everything. Aria, I love you. Please." He whimpered, practically pleading at this point.

"Don't, Ezra. We've been through this. I don't know if I can trust you anymore. You betrayed me. You made me fall in love with you and then you hurt me." Aria said semi-monotonously, looking down at Bailey Hope. Salty tears began to cascade down her tired cheeks.

"But, I love you. You know that right?" Ezra questioned his voice barely above a whisper.

"How can I believe you, Ezra? You broke my heart. I don't love you. At least not anymore."

 _Flashback_

 _Late October 2010_

 _Once again Aria sat alone at the granite kitchen counter in the spacious, but cozy apartment that she and Ezra had bought together._

 _She halfheartedly pushed her lasagna around on her plate and sighed at her loss of appetite. This was the third time this week that Ezra had to "work late" and honesty, Aria was getting sick of it. She hated coming home from her teaching job at the local middle school to sit and eat dinner alone almost every night. Every time that Ezra told her that he had to stay at the office late that night because he was drowning in paperwork, she would brush it off and go to bed before Ezra got home._

 _But on this particular night Aria, too had a stack of seventh grade English tests to mark, so she decided on getting them graded so her impatient seventh grade class could receive their marks the next morning._

 _Aria decided to make herself a cup of coffee and sit down at the sturdy, wooden desk in the living room and get to work. As she sat down she heard footsteps and not long after a key being inserted in the door._

" _Aria.." Ezra stated surprised, looking like a deer caught in the headlights._

" _Hey babe. How was work?" Aria asks cheerily as she gets up to give him a light peck on the lips._

" _What?" Ezra asks, clearly confused._

 _That's when Aria notices it. The bright purple-brown hickey that is beginning to form on the side of his neck. She definitely does not remember giving him a hickey. Especially since he's been "working late" for the majority of the past few weeks._

" _What's that?" Aria questions as calmly as she possibly can._

 _Ezra looks confused again, but he soon realizes he has been caught and he struggles to form a coherent sentence._

 _He touches the side of his neck and sighs, bowing his head as he stares at his shoes._

" _Babe, I can expl-"_

 _Aria cuts him off by slapping him across the face. His hand gently grazes his cheek as the stinging begins to subside._

" _No need. I'm pretty sure a hickey that I didn't give you explains it all. I thought you loved me, Ezra." Aria's voice trembles and shakes as she manages to get out the last sentence._

" _Aria, I do love you, so much." Ezra whispers softly._

" _If you did then you never would have fucking cheated on me!" Aria screams at him._

" _It's not like you never cheated on me." As Ezra says this he immediately wants to take it back, but he knows he can't._

 _He looks at Aria and can practically see the rage in her eyes._

" _In high school, Ezra! We've been through this more than once! Andrew kissed me! I didn't fucking sleep with him! And I told you about it and explained everything! Get out! Get the fuck out of here! I never want to see you again!" Aria screeches._

" _A-and tonight was the night I was going to finally tell you! But while I was planning my speech in my head you were off screwing some slut!" She continues, tears streaming down her red face._

 _Ezra just looked at her, completely lost for words. You could see the tears forming in the corner of his eyes – the same eyes she had fallen for three years ago._

 _Noticing that Ezra was not going to speak up anytime soon, she continued, "I'm pregnant, Ezra! I am fucking pregnant! And I'm scared! And we're supposed to be celebrating!" Aria is now crying uncontrollably her entire body shaking with each sob she lets out._

 _End of flashback._

Ezra grimaced at her harsh words. He felt as if he had been slapped across the face, or as if a knife had been plunged into his chest. He took a small step back, sadly glancing at Bailey. Tears began to flow down his sleep deprived face, tears that he thought would never stop.

Aria felt genuinely bad for what she had just said and she immediately regretted it. She pretended not to notice the broken expression that covered the 25 year olds face. She looked down at Hope, or Bailey, and busied herself with the loose thread on the hem of her light blue sweater – coincidently a gift from Ezra. She gently grazed her fingers over her silver wedding ring.

When she looked up again, Ezra was gone. That's when she completely broke down. Aria began to cry so hard that she feared she would never stop. Soon her body began to tremble and startled Bailey, who soon began to cry too. Both their cries filled the empty hospital room and Aria hugged her daughter closer to her chest, her sobs gradually getting louder.


	2. Chapter 2

_Maybe Hope Is All It Takes_

 _Chapter Two_

 _Present Day_

 _Rosewood, Pennsylvania_

 _If there was one thing Aria Montgomery could take back in her life, it would be the hurtful words she said to Ezra Fitz on the evening on 18 July 2010._

"Come on, baby! We're here!" Aria says as she pulls up into the long, cobblestone driveway leading up to Ezra's house.

She parks her silver SUV in her usual spot and noisily unbuckles her seat belt before hopping out of the car and walking around to unbuckle Bailey from her 'booster seat'.

Four year old Bailey sits comfortably in the backseat clutching her stuffed giraffe that Ezra had given her when she was born, tightly to her chest. She carries that damn giraffe around with her everywhere, never letting 'raffi' leave her site.

It's Ezra's weekend to have Bailey. Aria hates being away from her little princess and misses her terribly when Ezra has her.

Aria filed for divorce when Bailey was a month old. The fact that the man she loved more than anything in the world had cheated on her was unbearable and too much for Aria to handle. This broke Ezra's heart into a thousand pieces and he spent many nights a week drinking at the bar where he and Aria met, only to come back home and sleep on the incredibly uncomfortable couch.

Ezra had been distraught, but confident that he and Aria could work things out. Aria on the other hand had insisted that a divorce would be the best option, for her and for Bailey.

Aria got full custody of Bailey Hope, but allowed Ezra to see her every second weekend.

Now, nearly five years later, on a chilly late autumn afternoon Aria arrives at Ezra's reasonably sized house, as she does every second weekend, to drop off the daughter they share.

Bailey is almost identical to her father. Her eyes match his, and a dark mop of curly hair sits atop her head. The only thing that Bailey inherited from her mother is Aria's incredibly petite stature.

Bailey loves going to visit her father and Aria definitely considers her daddy's little girl.

The picture of the perfect family still remains in the back of Aria's mind. She constantly stays awake at night wondering what her life would be like if Ezra didn't cheat. Or what if she didn't find out? Would he still be cheating now? The worst part is she never really got a decent explanation from Ezra. She just kind of kicked him out of her life without even allowing him the opportunity to explain himself.

She tries to shake the malicious thoughts from her head as she makes her way up to Ezra's front door, Bailey perched on her hip.

She rings the doorbell and waits patiently for Ezra to answer.

"Momma?" Bailey says quietly.

"Yes, baby?"

"How come you and daddy don't love each other?" She questions shyly.

"What do you mean?" Aria asks, clearly surprised by the unexpected question.

"All my friends at kindergarten have a mommy and a daddy." Bailey states, drawing out the 'and'.

"Bailey, you do have a mommy and a dad and they both love you very much." Aria states, trying her hardest to make Bailey just drop the subject.

"You know what I mean. Kayla says that her mommy and daddy live together. They even kiss each other sometimes. That's what Kayla says. I never seen you daddy kiss, not once."

Aria sighs, contemplating her answer.

Before Aria gets the chance to reply, she is interrupted by the sound of shuffling feet on the wooden floorboards, before a grinning Ezra is revealed.

Wasting no time Aria takes a step forward and roughly kisses Ezra on lips.

Ezra just stands there, as if he is completely frozen to the front porch, his mouth hanging open and his eyes bulging out of his head.

Ezra closes his mouth and opens it again as if he is about to say something, but before he can he is interrupted.

"Hey babe! Oh and you must be Hayley! Why you are the cutest thing ever!" She squeals in a baby voice as if Bailey is three months old.

Aria is fuming. Hayley? Who is she anyway? Then it hits Aria. "Babe" this must be Ezra's girlfriend. She doesn't remember him mentioning anything about a girlfriend. It's not like they speak that much; except for the few words the exchange when Aria drops Bailey off at Ezra and vice versa, so it's not like Aria can complain.

Neither Ezra nor Aria has been in a relationship since their divorce. As soon as Aria found out about Natalie Ezra broke it off and has not spoken to her since.

"It's Bailey!" Aria states rudely, glaring at the tall blonde women, who is the total opposite of Aria.

"Excuse me? Who are you?" The unnamed woman asks Aria impolitely.

Before Aria can fire back another harsh comeback, Ezra senses the tension and decides to introduce them.

"Aria this Bianca, my uh, girlfriend. Bianca this is Aria, my ex-wife," Ezra states awkwardly.

Aria doesn't pay any attention to his attempts to break the tension.

"Ezra, we need to talk." Aria states matter-of-factly.

Ezra looks confused but nods his head anyway.

"Sure, sure. Bianca can watch Bailey." Ezra offers, glancing at Bianca who smiles triumphantly as if she has just won the battle.

Aria looks hesitant.

"Aria, it's okay. Bianca's great with kids! I promise." Ezra assures her with a slight smirk present on his face.

Aria reluctantly sighs before placing an irritated Bailey in the arms of a smirking Bianca and following Ezra inside to the living room.

Ezra takes a seat on one of the black sofas before looking back up at Aria.

Aria hesitantly sits down on the crème armchair opposite Ezra, sighing loudly as she does so.

"I just wanted to-." They both babble out at exactly the same time.

Ezra grins. They always did this when they were married and it seems like not much has changed since then. This problem always resulted in Ezra allowing Aria the opportunity to speak first, but not this time.

"Why'd you kiss me?" Ezra asks first.

"Who's Bianca?" Aria challenges back.

"Aria," Ezra sighs, "I asked first."

Rolling her eyes, Aria begins. "While I was waiting for you to answer the door Bailey asked me why we don't live together and why she never sees us kiss. She refused to drop it and in an attempt to shut her up I kissed you, okay? It was stupid, I know. Tell Bianca, do whatever you want, I don't care." She mumbles out quickly in an incredibly monotonous voice.

"Your turn." She continues.

"Aria, breathe. I'm not mad. Bianca doesn't need to know about that. I've actually been waiting for that for a long time." He says the last sentence so softly that Aria has to strain her ears to hear him.

"What was that?" Aria asks, her mouth hanging open.

"I said that Bianca doesn't need to-"

Rolling her eyes once again, Aria continues, "You know what I meant, Ezra. We can't be together. We can never be together. You betrayed me."

"That was five years ago, Aria." Ezra states, tears prickling the corners of his intense blue eyes.

"I still love you, Ar." He whispers, glancing behind him to make sure that Bianca hasn't made her way into the room. To his surprise Bailey is standing there with a shocked look on her face.

"Bailey, what are you doing here?" Ezra and Aria ask simultaneously.

"Bianca told me to go away." Bailey mumbles sadly, dragging 'raffi' halfheartedly behind her.

"You love mommy? I knew it!" Bailey gasps, her eyes lighting up.

Aria sadly looks towards Ezra who wriggles his eyebrows at her in return.

Aria knew deep down that her feelings for Ezra were very much still there. Forgiving Ezra had been difficult, but she knew she was only hurting herself by holding tightly onto pride. She knew she had to forgive him eventually. That wasn't the problem. The only thing preventing her from being with Ezra, was the fact that she didn't know if she could trust him. But could she?

* * *

 **Authors Note: I forgot to leave an author's note at the end of the first chapter, but I really am going to try and update as soon as possible. It's been difficult at the moment because we have continuous loadshedding (If you don't know what that is, it's when the electricity goes off for a certain amount of time almost every day) I am currently writing this in the dark with a camping light next to me and I can barely see my keyboard. And every time I sit down to write the lights will go off. I'll update depending on the number of reviews I get on this chapter. Chapter Three will not be up before the weekend though as I have community service this week.**

 **Thank for reading and please review and let me know your thoughts!**


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